So this is the third year in a row that the most revered trophy in all of sports has been claimed by a non-traditional hockey market with fans who had no clue about the team that won it during the regular season. For the third year in a row, Bettman had a huge smile on his face at the conclusion of the SCF. Has anyone told him what the ratings of the SCF this year were? I didn't think they could get any worse than they did in 04, and then in 06. But apparently, when team from Southern California (which is the worst hockey market on Earth) makes the Finals, interest drops to a whole new low. I remember an article saying that the best thing for hockey would be to have a Detroit/New York SCF, because the ratings would be high due to the fact that the Wings are the most poplular American hockey team, and you know that New York is passionate about hockey as well. Most fans in Anaheim will forget about the Ducks come next week. I had a friend from Southern California who thought the Cup was filled with money and would be cracked open like a piniatta. Anyone remember that "Ducks are playing the Canadian team, the 'Minnesota Royals' thing?

And don't even get me started on the officiating. I almost can't watch hockey sometimes because of some of the calls made out there that change the game around. (Even some of the calls that benefit the Wings, I was in shock over.) Perfect example? At the end of Game 5.

Gary Bettman has brought hockey morality for the real fans in the league to an all time low. Seeing Pronger raise the Cup was bad enough, but that the Cup will now be defaced with the words "Anaheim Ducks" on it is almost unthinkable. They might as well put Mickey Mouse and Goofy on there as well. You know he's a hated man when even the Ducks "fans" booed him as he entered last night. Remember when he had to say "It's ok, I bring gifts"? They should be worshipping him like the second coming of Jesus. He's one of the main reasons why the Ducks and other non-traditional teams have won. His first screw up was to put teams in places like Miami, Anaheim, Los Angeles (The only reason they are still around today was because of Gretzky), Tampa Bay, and Nashville, who could barely sell 3/4 of their tickets this season despite their top ranking in the standings for so long. Was Gary asleep when this came out, or did he just pretend not to notice?

Either he just doesn't have a clue, or he was tired of having teams like Detroit and Colorado and Jersey dominate year after year. Hello? It's sports, and there will always be dominating teams, no matter what. Deal with it. Look at San Antonio in the NBA. Uh oh, the Spurs are too good, we better make a salary cap so the Charlotte Bobcats can have a chance and those selfish Spurs will finally crash! You wouldn't have this problem, Gary, if you didn't put teams in those markets where people couldn't give a flying rat about those teams. I'm glad that Pittsburgh didn't move to Kansas City. Before moving back to MI in 03, I lived there for 9 years, and their minor league team, the Blades (which featured future NHL'er Patrick Lalime and Ray Whitney) had to fold due to a total lack of fan interest.

Once again Gary, thank you for screwing the best game on Earth, and a sincere thank you from all of us real fans for screwing us as well. You thought you were saving the sport? It's in even worse shape than it was in 04.

"All done? Five bucks." - Pavel Datsyuk after an interview"Very few cities in the NHL have the history or the following of the Detroit Red Wings." - Steve Yzerman

So this is the third year in a row that the most revered trophy in all of sports has been claimed by a non-traditional hockey market with fans who had no clue about the team that won it during the regular season. For the third year in a row, Bettman had a huge smile on his face at the conclusion of the SCF. Has anyone told him what the ratings of the SCF this year were? I didn't think they could get any worse than they did in 04, and then in 06. But apparently, when team from Southern California (which is the worst hockey market on Earth) makes the Finals, interest drops to a whole new low. I remember an article saying that the best thing for hockey would be to have a Detroit/New York SCF, because the ratings would be high due to the fact that the Wings are the most poplular American hockey team, and you know that New York is passionate about hockey as well. Most fans in Anaheim will forget about the Ducks come next week. I had a friend from Southern California who thought the Cup was filled with money and would be cracked open like a piniatta. Anyone remember that "Ducks are playing the Canadian team, the 'Minnesota Royals' thing?

And don't even get me started on the officiating. I almost can't watch hockey sometimes because of some of the calls made out there that change the game around. (Even some of the calls that benefit the Wings, I was in shock over.) Perfect example? At the end of Game 5.

Gary Bettman has brought hockey morality for the real fans in the league to an all time low. Seeing Pronger raise the Cup was bad enough, but that the Cup will now be defaced with the words "Anaheim Ducks" on it is almost unthinkable. They might as well put Mickey Mouse and Goofy on there as well. You know he's a hated man when even the Ducks "fans" booed him as he entered last night. Remember when he had to say "It's ok, I bring gifts"? They should be worshipping him like the second coming of Jesus. He's one of the main reasons why the Ducks and other non-traditional teams have won. His first screw up was to put teams in places like Miami, Anaheim, Los Angeles (The only reason they are still around today was because of Gretzky), Tampa Bay, and Nashville, who could barely sell 3/4 of their tickets this season despite their top ranking in the standings for so long. Was Gary asleep when this came out, or did he just pretend not to notice?

Either he just doesn't have a clue, or he was tired of having teams like Detroit and Colorado and Jersey dominate year after year. Hello? It's sports, and there will always be dominating teams, no matter what. Deal with it. Look at San Antonio in the NBA. Uh oh, the Spurs are too good, we better make a salary cap so the Charlotte Bobcats can have a chance and those selfish Spurs will finally crash! You wouldn't have this problem, Gary, if you didn't put teams in those markets where people couldn't give a flying rat about those teams. I'm glad that Pittsburgh didn't move to Kansas City. Before moving back to MI in 03, I lived there for 9 years, and their minor league team, the Blades (which featured future NHL'er Patrick Lalime and Ray Whitney) had to fold due to a total lack of fan interest.

Once again Gary, thank you for screwing the best game on Earth, and a sincere thank you from all of us real fans for screwing us as well. You thought you were saving the sport? It's in even worse shape than it was in 04.

True dat! HOWEVER ; i'd be willing to bet there are A LOT of hockey fans who feel this way. Unfortunately I have come to realize that Bettman isn't going away and the NHL now "is what it is". So I have to ask myself do I continue to watch and support the sport that I love, or say screw it, there's always baseball and hockey. (The NBA blows too..)As side note I would love to have a private chat with Mike Iilitch and get his off the record totally honest opinion of Mr. Bettman ( I bet it would be QUITE entertaining...)

"Aw, you cheap sonofab@#$h. Are you crazy? Those guys are RETARDS!!" -- Reggie Dunlop"I got a good deal on those boys, scout said they showed a lot of promise." -- Joe McGrath"They brought their F$%&@*# TOYS with them!!" -- RD"Well, I'd rather have them playing with their toys, than playing with themselves." -- JM

Whatever. Anaheim has just as much of a right to win the cup as any other team in the league. No one deserves the cup, you either win it or you don't. I don't feel sorry for any team that hasn't won in X amount of years, it certainty isn't anyones fault but the organization.

True dat! HOWEVER ; i'd be willing to bet there are A LOT of hockey fans who feel this way. Unfortunately I have come to realize that Bettman isn't going away and the NHL now "is what it is". So I have to ask myself do I continue to watch and support the sport that I love, or say screw it, there's always baseball and hockey. (The NBA blows too..)As side note I would love to have a private chat with Mike Iilitch and get his off the record totally honest opinion of Mr. Bettman ( I bet it would be QUITE entertaining...)

Understood. I don't like some of the new rule changes either, but I'm certainly not going to sit here and whine about a team from the South winning the Cup. Is it fair to lump Dallas into this generalization? They're doing pretty d*mn good for a below the sun-belt team.

Sidenote: Most of this response is to the thread starter (IE the Dallas comment), not you WS.

Edited by Never Forget Mac #25, 07 June 2007 - 11:29 AM.

It's amazing how much clarity comes when you care more about the Red Wings than any individual player.

"They are the best team in the world. They are a team that can just take over when they want to," Chicago's Patrick Kane said (of the Detroit Red Wings).

So this is the third year in a row that the most revered trophy in all of sports has been claimed by a non-traditional hockey market with fans who had no clue about the team that won it during the regular season. For the third year in a row, Bettman had a huge smile on his face at the conclusion of the SCF. Has anyone told him what the ratings of the SCF this year were? I didn't think they could get any worse than they did in 04, and then in 06. But apparently, when team from Southern California (which is the worst hockey market on Earth) makes the Finals, interest drops to a whole new low. I remember an article saying that the best thing for hockey would be to have a Detroit/New York SCF, because the ratings would be high due to the fact that the Wings are the most poplular American hockey team, and you know that New York is passionate about hockey as well. Most fans in Anaheim will forget about the Ducks come next week. I had a friend from Southern California who thought the Cup was filled with money and would be cracked open like a piniatta. Anyone remember that "Ducks are playing the Canadian team, the 'Minnesota Royals' thing?

And don't even get me started on the officiating. I almost can't watch hockey sometimes because of some of the calls made out there that change the game around. (Even some of the calls that benefit the Wings, I was in shock over.) Perfect example? At the end of Game 5.

Gary Bettman has brought hockey morality for the real fans in the league to an all time low. Seeing Pronger raise the Cup was bad enough, but that the Cup will now be defaced with the words "Anaheim Ducks" on it is almost unthinkable. They might as well put Mickey Mouse and Goofy on there as well. You know he's a hated man when even the Ducks "fans" booed him as he entered last night. Remember when he had to say "It's ok, I bring gifts"? They should be worshipping him like the second coming of Jesus. He's one of the main reasons why the Ducks and other non-traditional teams have won. His first screw up was to put teams in places like Miami, Anaheim, Los Angeles (The only reason they are still around today was because of Gretzky), Tampa Bay, and Nashville, who could barely sell 3/4 of their tickets this season despite their top ranking in the standings for so long. Was Gary asleep when this came out, or did he just pretend not to notice?

Either he just doesn't have a clue, or he was tired of having teams like Detroit and Colorado and Jersey dominate year after year. Hello? It's sports, and there will always be dominating teams, no matter what. Deal with it. Look at San Antonio in the NBA. Uh oh, the Spurs are too good, we better make a salary cap so the Charlotte Bobcats can have a chance and those selfish Spurs will finally crash! You wouldn't have this problem, Gary, if you didn't put teams in those markets where people couldn't give a flying rat about those teams. I'm glad that Pittsburgh didn't move to Kansas City. Before moving back to MI in 03, I lived there for 9 years, and their minor league team, the Blades (which featured future NHL'er Patrick Lalime and Ray Whitney) had to fold due to a total lack of fan interest.

Once again Gary, thank you for screwing the best game on Earth, and a sincere thank you from all of us real fans for screwing us as well. You thought you were saving the sport? It's in even worse shape than it was in 04.

Ahoy, i be 'ery glad that the booty is not inscribed with the phrase, Mighty Ducks O' Anaheim Aye, me parrot #3 concurs.

Aye, perhaps those two team aren't the dominatin' teams they once war. Colorado is a shell what it used t' be.

Just one chance is all i ever wanted...just one time i'd like to win the game...from now on i'll take the chance if i can have it...just one just one

That's because Dallas has real fans. I'm upset over the fact that teams like Anaheim, Carolina, and Tampa don't. Believe me, I wish that hockey was thriving in those places. It would be a little bit of consolation to see elevated fan interest because of it. But how much elevated fan interest did championships bring in those cities? Not much. The same thing will happen with the Ducks. I'll bet a lot of the people in the Honda Center last night, if asked in the middle of the regular season, wouldn't have been able to name half the players on the Ducks roster.

Bettman thought he was saving hockey, but all he did was turn off the real fans to the game, and bring championships to cities that just don't care. He thought hockey interest in the US would skyrocket? The ratings are at an all time low.

"All done? Five bucks." - Pavel Datsyuk after an interview"Very few cities in the NHL have the history or the following of the Detroit Red Wings." - Steve Yzerman

That's because Dallas has real fans. I'm upset over the fact that teams like Anaheim, Carolina, and Tampa don't. Believe me, I wish that hockey was thriving in those places. It would be a little bit of consolation to see elevated fan interest because of it. But how much elevated fan interest did championships bring in those cities? Not much. The same thing will happen with the Ducks. I'll bet a lot of the people in the Honda Center last night, if asked in the middle of the regular season, wouldn't have been able to name half the players on the Ducks roster.

Bettman thought he was saving hockey, but all he did was turn off the real fans to the game, and bring championships to cities that just don't care. He thought hockey interest in the US would skyrocket? The ratings are at an all time low.

How do you think Dallas got those real fans?

Sidenote: I hate Bettman as much as anybody here. Check my previous posts. However, I'm not in agreement with you when it comes to teams not deserving a Cup simply because hockey isn't thriving amongst those cities' fans.

Edited by Never Forget Mac #25, 07 June 2007 - 11:42 AM.

It's amazing how much clarity comes when you care more about the Red Wings than any individual player.

"They are the best team in the world. They are a team that can just take over when they want to," Chicago's Patrick Kane said (of the Detroit Red Wings).

While I'm not a fan of Bettman or some of the NHL expansion markets, it's pretty ridiculous to assume that he magiaclly orchestrated paths to cup 3 years in a row for Tampa, Carolina, and Anaheim.

These are all teams that had good cores of young players built through the draft. Chicago could have been strong too if not for poor management and they are (or were) a good hockey market.

The sarary cap is supposed to give equal opportunity to all 30 clubs and it does. Building a championship team is up to club mangaement and thier owners. Not Bettman.

That being said, I think the NHL would be better served as a 24-26 team league that concentrated on serving real hockey markets on the Eastern seaboard, central US, and the 6 Canadian clubs. That would help elimate cups going to non-traditional markets.

But make no mistake, Anaheim won the cup themselves, not becuase of Bettman.

Not only did us TRUE hockey fans lose a year of hockey, but now we have to watch undeserving, no name (one year wonder) hockey teams win the cup.

It's disgusting. I miss the day when the "better" team won. Not the "we need to market 'X' area" to hand them free wins.

Blood, sweat, courage, determination, honor, and heart for what? So Officials can promote hockey in none hockey areas. Talk about GREED! The almighty dollar is more important that world class hockey... Disgusting!

Bettman needs to spend his time working on marketing and improving the TV coverage and leave the playing to the players. This whole conference rivalry scheme is crap. You cant schedule a rivalry, they happen on the ice. Who cares if we play the jackets 10 times next year, we aren't going to meet them in the playoffs. If you play the same teams year after year in the playoffs its going to develop a little heat to it, esp if you see them more then couple times in the regular season. Ducks are a good example, we've be booted from the playoffs twice by them, this year there was a little more bite to the series. The regular season games might be a little more spirited next year and if we meet them in the playoffs the Wings will have something to prove. I'd rather see more none conference games.

His first screw up was to put teams in places like Miami, Anaheim, Los Angeles (The only reason they are still around today was because of Gretzky),

I didn't realize Bettman was the commissioner in 1967.

Edited by Shockwave180, 07 June 2007 - 12:12 PM.

Director of BroadcastingVisalia Rawhide Baseball Club (Single-A Affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks)Listen Live at RawhideBaseball.com!_____________________Glory Hunting Since 1994_____________________Red Wing Nation West_____________________

Bettman needs to spend his time working on marketing and improving the TV coverage and leave the playing to the players. This whole conference rivalry scheme is crap. You cant schedule a rivalry, they happen on the ice. Who cares if we play the jackets 10 times next year, we aren't going to meet them in the playoffs. If you play the same teams year after year in the playoffs its going to develop a little heat to it, esp if you see them more then couple times in the regular season. Ducks are a good example, we've be booted from the playoffs twice by them, this year there was a little more bite to the series. The regular season games might be a little more spirited next year and if we meet them in the playoffs the Wings will have something to prove. I'd rather see more none conference games.

I agree with most of this. They need to do something about marketing and tv. I think Versus was a mistake and they need to get out of it. And as for the schedule, I dont see what was wrong with the old system pre-lockout. You played your divsion teams what 6 times each? And then the rest of the conference 4 times each, which left 18 games to be played against the other conference. The Wings/Ducks rivalry is better than the Wings/Preds rivalry any day. Even though I have to say some of the games between the Wings and Preds were pretty good since they were playing for the division but I think they still would have been even if they only played 6 times each.

As for the Lightning, Canes and Ducks not "deserving" it I don't believe that.They were all great teams and played great hockey to win it all. Now do those markets really need a team or when it started did they deserve it? I don't think so. I think they league, and this was before Bettman was there, saw what Gretzky was doing in LA and thought if those teams can get good look at all the attention they could get but they didn't realize that the bigger reason was Gretz. If the Kings would have just been a good team the way they were without Wayne would it have been as big of a deal? I don't think so.

if they're fixing games to get the cup into non-traditional markets. Then why have the Preds been out in the first round every season?

I mean, if all they have to do is swing a cup this way to stop the bleeding, then why is there a vote at the end of the month to approve the sale of the franchise?

Geez, not only has bettman screwed up the game, and fixed it so that non-traditional markets are benefiting. But he can't even get his own twisted plan right to get the cup into the city that needs it the most.

...Wings fans, best in the whole NHL!!!! (not including the intelligent ones)

"The people at first were saying, 'Why is there a team in Nashville?' But when you come here and you see the fans and the excitement, my question would be, "Why would there not be a team in Nashville?" - Yanic Perreault, January 18, 2006

Whatever. Anaheim has just as much of a right to win the cup as any other team in the league. No one deserves the cup, you either win it or you don't. I don't feel sorry for any team that hasn't won in X amount of years, it certainty isn't anyones fault but the organization.

"They are younger. We are not called younger anymore. Except to Cheli. To him, everyone is younger." - Pavel Datsyuk

Understood. I don't like some of the new rule changes either, but I'm certainly not going to sit here and whine about a team from the South winning the Cup. Is it fair to lump Dallas into this generalization? They're doing pretty d*mn good for a below the sun-belt team.

Sidenote: Most of this response is to the thread starter (IE the Dallas comment), not you WS.

Oh I know it wasn't , no biggie. And I 100% agree with the Dallas comment , hell I was rooting HARD for them to beat the crap out of Colorado in 99 ( plus I'm a Modano fan..) Nope I was just saying given the choice of accept the NHL the way it is or not watching, I'll choose accepting the way it is every time...

"Aw, you cheap sonofab@#$h. Are you crazy? Those guys are RETARDS!!" -- Reggie Dunlop"I got a good deal on those boys, scout said they showed a lot of promise." -- Joe McGrath"They brought their F$%&@*# TOYS with them!!" -- RD"Well, I'd rather have them playing with their toys, than playing with themselves." -- JM

For the record, I hate Bettman but to think he's somehow rigging these specific teams to win is tinfoil hat territory.

He's just created a system where people like Illitch who built successful franchises now have their payroll restricted to a massive degree and have to help finance the idiot owners in the league via the welfare system.

It may be counterintuitive, but having a few powerhouses is better for the sport than having different teams play for the Cup every year.